Why so much Stevie hating?

[WayOfTheDragon]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

I think the three English quietly throw shade.

This reminded me of some remarks Bob Welch made during one of his Q&A's on the Penguin site, so I did some digging to find his exact words:

"The thing I wish that all the fans would realize about FM, is that everyone, Stevie , Lindsey, Rick Vito , Billy, Bekka, Bob Weston etc are all really nice and fun people, the SOURPUSSES, are, and have always been, in my opinion, Mick, John and Chris, who have tended to act as if they were English "royalty" and "Better" than everybody else.
I'll tell you another little secret that is not known at all except to a few close "insiders" and me. I met Lindsey once at Chuck's Steak House, ( next to the old "Record Plant" studios) on Melrose in LA after Lindsey had been in the band maybe 6 months, and was in the middle of recording the white album. We had a couple of beers and then he confided in me, "how the hell did you stand it?" he asked me. I knew immediately what he meant...the "emotional atmosphere" created by Mick, John and Chris, all together in the same room could get intolerable at times. Imagine being locked in a room, for MONTHS at a time, with the 3 of your relatives that make you the most uncomfortable ! Maybe there is your uncle, who is always drunk, and who you have to "humor". Then there is your maiden aunt, who is alternately crotchety or making "crotch" references, and who is unmercifully sarcastic to boot. Then there is your brother who, although bright, has a slight learning disability, and rather than talk, he prefers to communicate in his own brand of "body English", gestures, and eye movements ! All of you are together in this tiny room trying to think up music, and it's costing you 300$ an hour to be there. Months go by...eyes are still rolling, sarcasm still flying, people never "say what they mean" and you have to keep guessing, flying blind. And it's still costing you 300$ an hour to do this.
Any body who EVER was in FM, had to put up with some version of this.
In the end, Lindsey was actually thinking of leaving FM 6 months after he joined...he didn't know if he could "take" it. At Chuck's, I told him, "you got 2 choices; get out, or swallow hard, bite the bullet and hang in there". I told Lindsey that this was a great "shot" for him, and if he could just persist with these people, like I had for five years, it might all be worth it. Maybe my advice helped him, or not...but he stayed."

Source: http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/qa/bobwelch_qa3.htm